Students in the Delaware City School District now have access to a digital library of audiobooks thanks to the work of the district’s librarians.
Kate Loker, the library and media center director at Dempsey Middle School, said elementary students can access a digial audiobook library via a subscription to Tales2Go. The subscription came to fruition through a collaboration between fellow district library and media specialists Sara Ressler and Christine Perry.
“In previous school years, elementary students have attended an in-person presentation by an author,” Loker said. “Due to the pandemic and different school models, we needed to brainstorm ideas on how we could safely meet the literacy needs of our students. The idea for a Tales2Go subscription came to fruition because it would provide easy access to quality audiobooks, whether the student is listening at home or school.”
Loker said audiobooks provide several benefits for students.
“I believe digital audiobooks are important for students for a multitude of reasons,” she said. “Studies have shown that listening to audiobooks increases reading comprehension, word exposure, and the retention and retrieval of information. It engages and motivates students who may be reluctant to read a print copy of the book.”
Perry said audiobooks have been a part of the library collections of Hayes High School and Dempsey Middle School for years, but they weren’t able to the youngest students in the district.
“We’ve searched for some time to find a way to bring audiobooks to our elementary libraries, but cost and access to technology have made it challenging,” Perry said. “We chose Tales2Go because it provides a robust database of popular and quality titles. It also allows students to easily access titles inside and outside of the school building.”
Perry said Tales2Go also allows the entire class to access a title at the same time, allowing everyone to listen together.
“My hope is that this new audiobook subscription will help increase our elementary students’ love of reading by introducing them to titles they might be reluctant to try in a print format,” Perry said. “I’m excited about the variety of titles found in Tales2Go and believe there are books that every student will enjoy.”
Ressler said she personally enjoys audiobooks, which she has introduced to her own children.
“I help encourage so much more reading with my own kids as we listen to audiobooks anytime we’re in the car together,” Ressler said. “Who doesn’t love having stories being told to them by professional narrators who bring characters, cliffhangers, and cringe-worthy moments to life through their inflection and range? Audiobooks are the modern equivalent of our oldest oral tradition of storytelling, and speak, literally and figuratively, to all.”
Students access Tales2Go through Clever, which is found in the Parent & Student Portals on the Delaware City Schools website.
